Thursday, January 12, 2012

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Tupelo Automobile Museum is located in Tupelo, Mississippi. This museum has over one hundred cars that date back to 1869. Consisting of the late Frank Spain's personal collection, these cars rang from antique, rare, and celebrity.

Museum at a glanceLocated at 1 Otis Boulevard (across from the Bancorpsouth Arena) in downtown Tupelo, Mississippi, this automotive museum displays, in the 120,000 sq. ft. facility, over 100 of the 150 car collection. Special interest automotive exhibits supplement the permanent display throughout the year. Vehicles date from 1886 to 2011 and feature rare vehicles such as a '48 Tucker, 1916 Owen Magnetic, 1920 Cord L-29, 1929 Duesenberg Model J, 1937 Lagonda and a large array of 50's, 60's and 70's cars and celebrity vehicles including one purchased by Elvis Presley. The cars are displayed in chronological order to illustrate the progress of automotive design and innovation. The collection is owned by a non-profit educational foundation. The museum is open daily, Monday-Saturday, 9am to 4:30pm and Sundays Noon to 4:30pm and only closed on Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving and Easter days.

Collection

The museum has over one hundred cars on display. Some of the cars are: an 1899 Knox, a 1964 Leslie, Liberace's Corvette, a never driven Dodge Viper, and a 1976 Lincoln Mark IV. The 1899 Knox is a rare Duesenburg, that is one of fifty-one tuckers ever made. The specially built "Leslie Special" was in the film "The Great Race". The 1976 Lincoln Mark IV was once owned by Elvis Presley. The museum also features Hispano Suizas.

Monday, January 2, 2012

In the mid 1980's, Enterra Technologies Ltd. allegedly received C$8 to 10 million loan guarantees and tax credits from the Canadian government's Scientific Research Council. This money was to be used to build a manufacturing facility in Burnaby, British Columbia, to produce the Vipre.

Our research shows only 36 cars built in Canada. Of these, most were sold into the United States. The Vipre was only to be sold through General Motors (GM) dealerships as an option known as the Enterra Style package on a Pontiac Fiero SE. GM, in agreement with this plan, was then to cover the regular warranty, with an additional warranty for the body and interior through Enterra.

There are discrepancies in the numbers sold. Some evidence points towards several incomplete cars (the number eight has come up several times from former employees interviewed) being left over when the company folded in late 1987, so the total number of cars built is in question.

The car was offered only as an option on a new Fiero and never as a kit, for fear it would lose its advantage over kit cars in the process.

The first set of body molds were used until late 1986. There were minor fitting problems with the first set so in late 1986 a new, better-fitting set of molds were created for the last year the company remained in business. The molds for the body were then sold to a Californian company which re-formed the molds and two more cars were built before that company also went out of business, after which the molds apparently disappeared.

Installation

These cars were built on fully loaded V6-powered Fiero SEs. The cars were stripped of the bodies and interiors and the sleek body and custom interiors installed. They only came in 4 colours: red; black; gun metal gray; and white. The paint of choice was Sikens. All suspension, drivetrain, braking system, and cooling system components remained stock Fiero.